'One hell of a fight'…Dana White reacts to Alex Pereira's stoppage win at UFC 307, praises Rountree for 'another level of toughness'

Dana White reacts to Alex Pereira's brutal knockout win over Rountree at UFC 307

While Khalil Rountree Jr. found some success, the damage slowly mounted as the title fight moved into the championship rounds, with the Brazilian eventually earning a knockout victory deep into the fourth round.

At the UFC 307 post-fight press conference, Dana White celebrated not only the outstanding performances of Alex Pereira, who is now 9-1 in the UFC and arguably the promotion's greatest active superstar, but also the incredible toughness that “The “Warhorse showed.

“What a guy [Pereira] what he did is incredible and the way he did it; This guy destroys everyone… This guy always wants to fight, and I mean, he's 38 too – it's not like he's 28 and has that many fights [left in him]but we'll see how everything turns out [as to what’s next].

“What a great fight, I mean Khalil Rountree is a whole different level of toughness,” praised White, who admitted it was “awesome” to see someone go toe-to-toe with such a celebrated kickboxer.

“He had no fear from the first round, Khalil Rountree went in and started going at it from the moment the bell rang; No fear, no nerves, no jitters – maybe he did, but he didn't show it… He went right in against one of the baddest guys ever and just started mixing it up with him, it was great.”

“You have to respect this guy, [but] Didn't it turn out the way everyone expected? At first everyone was like, “Oh, he's ranked 8th, blah, blah,” but you knew it was going to be a tough fight, you knew it was going to be a tough fight.

White continued to praise Rountree's stamina, claiming that the key factor in the fight was not the jab that ultimately caused the severe damage to Rountree's face, but the low kick that decisively disempowered him.

“You can never measure the heart, you never know how it will turn out, now you know.

“I felt like the difference was the low leg kick, and when he started kicking it with the calf, he destroyed that leg and had difficulty putting pressure on it, his punching power, his movement, everything; He just started systematically taking it apart.”

Dana White certainly wasn't the only one impressed by both Pereira's performance and Rountree's toughness, as MMA social media is abuzz with reactions from fans and fighters around the world.

Alex Pereira improved his professional record to 12-2, while Rountree fell to 13-6.

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